The Bloom Sisters: The Labrynth of Uncertainties
by And My Bird Can Sing
Summary: Tania and Allyson Bloom are sisters, both alike and different simultaneously, and are attending Hogwarts. They are faced with the difficulties of (dramatic music plays) school, life, and love. Please read, I love reviews! Chapters 7-9 up!
1. Chapter 1

Tania moved for the Sorting Hat. It almost seemed to glare at her along with the envious students behind her as she stepped up to put it on. She sat on the stool below it and placed it cautiously over her long brown hair, quaking with anticipation and fear for what might be in store for her.  
  
The hat merely sat... And sat, and sat... She wondered if there was something wrong with it-surely she belonged in some house. But what if she didn't? What if she just sat there until, finally, the headmaster yelled that they had the wrong hat, or the wrong day, or-and this was what terrified her-perhaps even the wrong girl...?  
  
This couldn't be, though! She was a member of a pure-blood family, all of them wizards and witches, not one of them related to a muggle even through marriage. No, she had to be a witch. But that wasn't the question, now was it? The question was-did she belong at Hogwarts...?  
  
Suddenly, the hat began to speak into her ear, "Tania, you are selected to be in-" It stopped. It started again, "Tania, you are selected- " its voice grew fainter every time it spoke. "Tania, you are-" "Tania--"  
  
"What!" she called out. "What are you trying to tell me? What bloody house am I in?"  
  
But the hat continued to talk ceaselessly, incoherently, constantly muttering in her ear, over and over again. "Tania, Tania, Tania," It almost seemed to be mocking her!  
  
"Tania!" The voice of her thirteen-year-old sister, Allyson, rang inside her ears. A girl, eleven years of age, with beauty beyond her years, and intelligence to boot, lay in her massive four-poster bed.  
  
She opened her eyes and looked around to see her over-sized, elaborate room, covered with posters of the Chudley Cannons, zooming around and constantly playing Quidditch upon their bright red and orange backgrounds. It had all been a dream. She breathed again.  
  
"TANIA!!!"  
  
"WHAT DO YOU WANT!!!!!" she screamed back at her sister down the stairwell after getting up and tying a robe around herself.  
  
"Do you have any earthly clue what time it is, you lump?"  
  
Tania looked at the clock in her room, which had about ten different hands, some of them spinning around fast enough to generate a mild breeze, and some of which hadn't moved in decades. Nobody really even knew what those were for...  
  
Tania, however, looked at it and her jaw dropped. She immediately raced over to her dresser. She tied her curly reddish, dark brown hair up in a messy bun and quickly took out a pair of shorts and a T-shirt.  
  
"What the bloody hell... Why didn't they wake me sooner?" she muttered to herself as she dressed hurriedly and raced downstairs. She sat down at the table with her mother and older sister, both looking at her expectantly.  
  
"Want some breakfast?" asked Allyson. She had light brown hair that was frizzy and quite wavy most of the time. Most could not tell, however, because she wore it in a ponytail, so that only long curls dangled down her shoulders. "Oh, wait!" she continued, rather sarcastically. "It's already ten o' clock! There's no time for breakfast, guess you missed it." She smiled shrewdly.  
  
"Okay, so I slept a little late, give me a break here." Tania pleaded apologetically, grabbing an apple and biting into it hungrily. "Where's Dad?"  
  
"Your father had to leave early for work today." said her mother, Isabelle, who was equally as beautiful and intelligent as both of her daughters.  
  
"What do you guys do there all day that's so important?"  
  
"That's not important, honey-did you remember to pack Serge?" She always seemed to change the subject when asked about work. Tania rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yeah, speaking of packing, you should go get your bags." said Allyson. "We have to leave in just a few."  
  
"Uh-oh..." Tania said through a mouthful of apple, stopping abruptly as the thought of packing had only just occurred to her.  
  
Allyson gaped and, a moment later, a smile began to creep across her lips. "You forgot to pack, didn't you?"  
  
Tania smacked herself in the forehead and raced back up to her room to grab all of her possessions and throw them into her trunk, along with forcing her disgruntled eagle owl, Serge, into a cage.  
  
"You stupid owl, if you can't deliver the letters, at least go into a cage when I want you to!" After bagging and stuffing and quieting everything that was necessary, she sprinted back down the steps, tripping clumsily over the last step on the staircase before noticing that her sister was standing over her, smiling.  
  
"Good job, hun..." She laughed.  
  
Tania glared up at her. "Thanks for helping me. You'd think the only student in her year to know a summoning charm would use it to help her little sister pack."  
  
"Yeah, you would think that, wouldn't you?" she smiled, offering a hand to her currently disoriented younger sister.  
  
Tania took it and smiled a little as she pulled her sister to the hard linoleum floor to lay beside her, then hopping up quickly enough to escape a vengeful, yet somewhat amused, grasp.  
  
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ 


	2. Chapter 2

Later, they had already taken floo powder to King's Cross train station and were standing just in between platforms nine and ten.  
  
"Tania, you can go first and wait for me on the other side, okay?" She had been left with Allyson -their parents had to work at the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Mysteries. What they did there all day was a... Well, a mystery...  
  
Tania nodded to her sister and, when it seemed that no muggles were watching them, she ran as fast as she could into the column of brick between platforms nine and ten. But, rather than crashing into the wall (something that would have been far too in-character for her), she ran through it into another sort of platform-platform nine and three quarters.  
  
There was a large sign above her that told her that this was indeed the correct platform and, along with this undeniable proof that she hadn't screwed up was a train that was distinctly labeled, "Hogwarts Express".  
  
She smiled up at it. She had dreamed of this day ever since she was a toddler-when she would ride the train to Hogwarts to learn how to become a proper witch. She waited anxiously for her sister. Several minutes passed and she still did not emerge through the platform. Soon enough, though, Allyson appeared, looking rather flustered and shaken, blushing a little, tears streaming down her face.  
  
"What took you so long?" asked Tania, breathing again since her sister was back.  
  
"Um... A muggle adult gave me quite a bit of trouble." Allyson answered, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "Wanted to know where I was going and what I was doing in the bloody train station with no parents."  
  
"Well, what did you tell him?"  
  
"I just told him that he was terrible for mentioning my parents when they had beat me when I was little, then I burst into tears and started screaming at him to leave me alone. While he was going to find a police officer, I ran through the platform." She took a deep breath and smiled as Tania looked on with a shocked expression on her face.  
  
"Oh, look there's Fred and George! Hey, and there's Lee!" Allyson said casually as she smiled and waved at three boys-two of them with bright red hair (they were twins) and another short black boy with dreadlocks. "I'm going over there to talk for a bit before the train leaves. You wanna tag along?"  
  
"Er... Okay, sure..." Tania smiled a little, happy to be included.  
  
They made their way over to the boys and Allyson greeted them.  
  
"Hey, Fred, George! Lee, what's up?"  
  
They all nodded in acknowledgment to her. There was something odd about the twins that made them very cute. Perhaps it was their demeanor, or their red hair and freckles that did it.  
  
"Have you been crying?" Fred whispered to her, sounding slightly concerned, and looking it, too.  
  
"What? Oh, yeah."  
  
Fred started to say something, but Allyson cut in. "Hey, Lee, what's in the box?" She gestured toward a large box that Lee held shut.  
  
Lee grinned. "Why don't you look yourself?"  
  
Allyson opened the box and a, long, massive, hairy leg emerged from it.  
  
She shut the box quickly. "Um, Tania, I think you'd better leave."  
  
Tania looked at the box warily, then at the twins, then at her sister, all of them looking at her as though she really wouldn't like what was in the box.  
  
"Why?" asked Tania, inching her way a bit closer to Lee to have a look at what was in the box.  
  
"Trust me, you wouldn't like it... It's a, um... It's a rather monstrous spider... Tarantula thing..."  
  
"Okay, leaving!" Tania squeaked. She quickly made her way onto the train, looking for an open compartment.  
  
She found one. Or, at least, it was relatively vacant. There was a girl sitting in there quietly with a book about five sizes too big for her, propped up in her lap, her legs crossed and her face hidden completely behind it.  
  
"Um... Excuse me..." said Tania softly.  
  
The girl looked up at her over her book and smiled a little, showing front teeth that were slightly larger than normal. Her hair was extremely bushy and brown. "Hello."  
  
"Hi..." Tania returned, smiling a little now. "Um, do you mind if I sit in here?"  
  
"Oh, no problem!" The girl said, moving a massive bag filled entirely of books to make room for Tania. "So, who are you?"  
  
"Uh, my name is Tania... Tania Bloom." She held out her hand and the girl took it, shaking it with a surprisingly firm grip.  
  
Just then, the train started to roll away. Tania hoped Allyson and her friends had managed to get on the train before it had left.  
  
"I'm Hermione Granger." She smiled again. "Is it your first year here? It's mine. My parents are both muggles, though, so it really came as quite a shock when I found out that I was a witch. Of course, I was so happy. I'm actually quite interested in studying transfiguration this year, I'm looking forward to it, aren't you?"  
  
"Oh... Yes, actually..." Tania smiled a little. "My mother's an animagi, in fact."  
  
Hermione gaped. "No way! Oh, she must be Isabelle Bloom. You know, there are very few animagi in the world, you're very lucky for your mother to be one. What is it that she turns into?"  
  
"Oh-A snow leopard." Tania smiled, glad that she had something to talk about with this girl."  
  
"Oh, that must be really rewarding to have a mother who can do that, I'm really jealous, Tania."  
  
"Well, it really doesn't come as being that odd to me anymore."  
  
"Well, I've only read about animagi, you know. You don't actually come across them very often. I'm really excited about meeting a Professor at Hogwarts this year. I'm sure you've heard of her-Minerva McGonagall, she's an animagi herself, I think she can change into a cat."  
  
"That should be interesting." Tania lied. She honestly found nothing interesting about animagi, considering that her mother was one and she had seen it done a million times.  
  
"I should think so, too." smiled Hermione. "I can't wait to start school, I'm really excited, aren't you?"  
  
"Well, the thing is that I come from a wizarding family so I've been around magic my whole life. It seems like such a chore to me to have to learn how to do it when my parents could teach me pretty much all of what they know. Though, I imagine it must be somewhat difficult to live life as a muggle your whole life, then find out that you've been selected to go to Hogwarts. Don't you think it should be a bit difficult to learn magic if you've never seen it?"  
  
"You would think that..." said Hermione truthfully. "But I've actually tried a few simple spells, you know, and most of them don't really seem all too difficult. Have you tried any?"  
  
"Um... No, actually..." Tania was beginning to feel that she probably should have tested her new wand before being certain that it was for her.  
  
"Oh well, I'm sure you'll do fine. Coming from a wizarding family should assure you something, right?" she smiled.  
  
Tania cracked a smile. "Yes, I suppose."  
  
"So..." said Hermione. "What house do you want to be sorted into?"  
  
"Well, I'd like to be in Ravenclaw, personally. All of my family has been for quite a while now. How about you?"  
  
"I'd have to side with Gryffindor, though I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be at all bad."  
  
Tania nodded. "Respectable decision. Well anyway, as long as I don't get sorted into Slytherin, I suppose I'm all right..."  
  
Just then, a boy a couple inches shorter than Tania walked in. He had a round face and carried a large toad who blinked wetly, showing no signs of life apart from breath.  
  
"Can I sit in here?" he asked shakily. "There's only one other empty seat on the train and the compartment's full of fifth year Slytherins..." He turned an odd pale shade and shivered a little, as though dreading the mere prospect of sitting with them.  
  
"Sure." both the girls said simultaneously.  
  
"What's your name?" asked Hermione as the boy sat down on the other side of the compartment and set his toad gently down on the seat next to him.  
  
"Neville." he answered, still acting a bit nervous. "Neville Longbottom. Who are you?" he looked between the two girls.  
  
"I'm Hermione Granger." she smiled.  
  
"I'm Tania Bloom." Tania answered meekly.  
  
He nodded to each of them in turn. "It's nice to meet you. Is it your first year at Hogwarts?" he asked hopefully.  
  
They nodded. "What house do you want to be in?" asked Hermione anxiously.  
  
Neville began to blush. "Anywhere but Slytherin. In fact, I'd probably be lucky if I got in there..." His voice faded to silence.  
  
"What do you mean, 'you'd be lucky'?" asked Tania.  
  
"Well, I come from a family of wizards, but I was almost a squib."  
  
"I'm sure you'll do fine here." said Hermione smiling reassuringly.  
  
He grinned and looked down to the seat beside him. "Oh, no!" he shouted. "Trevor!"  
  
"Who?" Hermione questioned.  
  
"My toad, Trevor! He's gone!" He began looking all around the compartment frantically.  
  
"Don't worry, Neville, we'll help you find him." Assured Hermione rather calmly. "You take that end of the train," she pointed, "and we'll take the other end."  
  
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ 


	3. Chapter 3

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~  
  
As Tania and Hermione walked, Tania had a chance to peer into several of the compartments. In one of them, she saw Allyson and decided to stop to see what was going on with her.  
  
She poked her head in the door. She was rather shocked to see that only one of the twins, Lee, Allyson, and Allyson's boyfriend, Oliver Wood, sat in the compartment. Tania had no idea how on earth Allyson had struck such gold in a boyfriend.  
  
He was cute, smart, and captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team. He was a year older than her, but cared for her more than Tania thought anyone could... Well, he liked quidditch more, but she was right up there with it.  
  
Allyson looked rather put upon as Oliver had an arm around her shoulders. She looked like she would rather not have been there, in fact, which Tania couldn't figure out.  
  
"Oliver, stop!" she snapped at him as she yanked his arm off of her.  
  
He looked at her oddly and said, "Okay, then, sorry..." He slid over a few inches.  
  
The one twin sitting across from them was looking a little awkward. Lee seemed oblivious.  
  
As soon as Allyson spotted Tania, she leapt at the opportunity to get away from Oliver. "I'll be right back!" she said hastily as Oliver started to get up after her.  
  
She walked out of the door and shut it behind her. She took out her wand and pointed it at herself. "Silencio!" She immediately opened her mouth and screamed as loud as she could. Or, at least, that's what it looked like. No sound was coming out, but Tania could only assume.  
  
With that, Allyson raised her wand to her throat and mouthed, "Articulo!" She sighed. "Sorry, I needed that..."  
  
"You can do a silencing charm?" asked Tania, shocked. "And... And counteract it?"  
  
Allyson shrugged. "I taught myself over the summer. So, have you made any friends?"  
  
"Yeah, a couple. A girl named Hermione and a boy named Neville. They're okay."  
  
Allyson nodded, proud of her younger sister for taking some initiative to actually talk to someone. "Well, that's nice. So, why are you up and out of your compartment?"  
  
"Uh, Neville lost his toad and we're looking for it." Tania answered.  
  
"Oh... You want some help? I'm sure Lee and Fred and I could prove useful."  
  
"Where's George?"  
  
"I don't really know... Said he went to the other end of the train to taunt some Slytherins." Allyson responded, not seeming too worried. "So do you want me to get Lee and Fred?"  
  
"What about Oliver?"  
  
"Um..." she looked back into the compartment nervously. "He can stay where he is, he'll be fine..."  
  
Tania laughed. "Well, how are you going to get rid of him?"  
  
"Ooh hey, know what?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'll send him to the other end of the train to look and we can kill two birds with one stone."  
  
She poked her head back into the compartment and said, "Oliver, love, could you come here for just a moment?" She batted her eyes sweetly at him.  
  
He raised his eyebrows at her and smiled. "Uh... Sure, I suppose." He got up and walked toward the door, looking very full of himself. Fred watched him with quite a bit of contempt and Lee snickered at how Allyson had beckoned him.  
  
Before he got out, however, "Oh, Fred, Lee, you can come too, if you want. Tania's friend's toad has gone missing and she needs help finding it."  
  
Fred grinned a little as he got up and the happy expression on Oliver's face faltered.  
  
Fred clapped a hand on Oliver's shoulder and said quietly in his ear, "Sorry, mate, guess it's just not your day..."  
  
"I think I'll just stay here, I want to get some sleep before getting to school." answered Lee.  
  
"Right." said Allyson. "Fred, you coming?"  
  
"Sure, why not?" He walked past Allyson to stand beside Tania.  
  
"Oliver?" she asked sweetly.  
  
He sighed. "I suppose..."  
  
"Thank you!" she smiled.  
  
She started to walk down the hallway and the three of them followed. She stopped, causing the rest of them to stop as well. "Oh, a thought just occurred to me..."  
  
"What?" asked Tania.  
  
"We need someone to go look at the other end." She turned to the other three, looking at all of them quite credibly.  
  
"I can-" Fred started but his voice was lost as Allyson jabbed her wand at him and muttered the silencing charm under her breath. He grabbed his throat, but rather than being angry with her, he smiled and looked expectantly at Oliver.  
  
"Don't be ridiculous, Fred!" said Allyson convincingly. "Oliver is clearly the best choice."  
  
"Er... Why?" asked Oliver bluntly.  
  
"Because, my dear, you are, by far, the strongest, wittiest, and most intimidating of the four of us and, since we all know the other end is full of Slytherins, you would obviously be the safest choice."  
  
"Well, why can't George go?" He pointed at Fred.  
  
"Because, for one, this is Fred, not George. You need to learn to tell them apart, love. And Fred," she continued, gesturing to the red-head next to her, "lets his temper get the better of him and would most certainly end up with a black eye."  
  
"Well, at least we'd be able to tell the two apart..." muttered Oliver.  
  
"Oliver..." Allyson growled threateningly as she pointed to the opposite end of the train.  
  
"Okay, I'm going!" he said apologetically, and he shuffled off toward the other end of the train.  
  
Fred wasn't smiling anymore, but looking at Allyson angrily. Well, he was talking too, but nobody could tell. He tapped her on the shoulder and pointed at his throat, mouthing, "Can I talk now?"  
  
"Oh! Sorry, Fred. Articulo!"  
  
"What the hell was that for!" he screamed at her. He faked a high, girlish voice. "Oh, Oliver, you're so strong and manly, and oh-so-witty, you are, by far, the best choice to send down to the other end with the nasty Slytherins!" Fred glared at her. "And about the whole silencing charm thing!" A grin broke the solemn seal on his face and he laughed a little. "Can you teach me how to do that? It's really cool."  
  
Allyson didn't quite know what to make of all this. "Okay, first off, I used the silencing charm because... Well, I was thinking of stepping on your foot, but that would be too obvious and I thought you would be appreciative of the lack of pain that the charm had to offer. And second, I was trying to brown-nose Oliver so he would leave, I wasn't genuinely complimenting him. And thirdly, yeah sure, I'll teach you sometime."  
  
Fred nodded. "Right, then."  
  
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ 


	4. Chapter 4

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~  
  
They continued to walk down the hall, every now and then peering into compartments to see if there happened to be a toad hopping amongst the passengers.  
  
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."  
  
A loud squeak issued from a compartment a few feet down, then what Tania recognized to be Hermione's voice. "Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good, is it?"  
  
"George and I gave him that one..." Fred whispered to Allyson.  
  
She laughed. "It isn't a real spell, is it?"  
  
Fred shook his head. "Nah. But he was getting on my nerves yesterday complaining about how boring his dumb rat was, so we made up a spell as to turn him yellow." He peered in through the window while Hermione was still talking. "I hope it wasn't real, anyway..."  
  
Tania walked into the compartment. "Hermione? Any luck?"  
  
She sighed. "No, not really. Neville got frightened of the Slytherins at the other end and came down here to look."  
  
"Oh, that's okay, my sister sent her boyfriend down there."  
  
"So you've gotten help now, have you? Who's with you?"  
  
"Uh, my sister and a friend of hers."  
  
As though answering to a summons, Fred poked his head in. "Hello, all-Ron, what a surprise!" He shoved passed Tania and sat down next to Ron.  
  
"The spell you gave me was a dud..." said the boy called Ron angrily to his brother. There was no resemblance between the two of them except that they both had flaming red hair and freckles. Ron was seemingly taller, and much thinner. He also had a black smudge on his nose mingled with the freckles.  
  
Fred picked up a rat that was in Ron's lap and looked it in the face. "You know... I reckon George and I should work on him for a while, don't you? I mean, I know I read that spell in a book somewhere-"  
  
Ron swiped at his brother's hand that had the rat in it. "Give him back, Fred!"  
  
Fred jumped up on the seat and held the rat out the window of the train, laughing. "Hey Ron, maybe we can get a spell to make him bounce!"  
  
"Fred, stop it." Allyson said calmly. Fred was the only one in the compartment who thought this was even remotely funny.  
  
Ron leapt up out of his seat and started trying to grab the rat. "Give me Scabbers!"  
  
"What's that, Ron? Drop Scabbers out the window? Weird decision, I know he's not exciting, but resorting violence? Really, I wouldn't have thought you capable of something like that... Well, if you say so!" Fred smiled. "One..."  
  
"Fred, stop!" Allyson said more firmly this time.  
  
"Two..."  
  
"Give me my rat, you git!"  
  
"Fred, put him down!"  
  
"Three!"  
  
"Accio Scabbers!" The rat flew from Fred's hand, across the compartment, into Allyson's. She glared at Fred, who stood, dumbfounded, his hand still sticking out the window. "We're leaving, Fred..."  
  
He sighed and hopped down from the seat as Allyson glared at him and walked across the compartment to hand Ron his rat. "Sorry, Ron..." she said quietly.  
  
He nodded, smiling weakly at her and sat down, his face turning a slight shade of pink and his ears glowing bright red.  
  
Allyson walked out, on the way, grabbing Fred's arm and shoving him out of the compartment, muttering, "You're so stupid, Fred..."  
  
This left the rest of them in a rather awkward situation. Ron, Tania, Hermione, and some other boy were sitting in there now. The other boy was very skinny, had glasses that were taped up in the middle, untidy black hair, and very bright, pretty green eyes.  
  
"So..." began the boy with the glasses. "What are your names?"  
  
Hermione cleared her throat. "I'm Hermione Granger."  
  
"My name is Tania. Tania Bloom." She smiled.  
  
Ron's eyes darted up to those of Tania. "You're part of that pure-blood wizarding family that's been in Ravenclaw for so long!"  
  
Tania laughed nervously. "Yep, that's me... Who are you?"  
  
"Ron Weasley. Surprised you want to know me after meeting my idiot of a brother."  
  
"He's all right, he just gets carried away." Tania shrugged, feeling surprisingly comfortable talking to this boy. "So, who's your friend?" she smiled at the boy next to him.  
  
The boy spoke up for himself. "My name's Harry. Harry Potter."  
  
Hermione and Tania gasped simultaneously. "Are you really?" said Hermione, smiling. "I know all about you, of course-I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."  
  
Harry smiled. "Am I?"  
  
"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best- "  
  
"Hey-by far? Come on, Hermione." Tania laughed.  
  
Hermione smiled at Tania. "Though I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad." She started to walk out, then turned. "Tania, are you coming?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry."  
  
She got up and walked out as Hermione said to them. "You two had better go change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."  
  
"Hey, Ron." Said Tania.  
  
"Yes?" he looked at her hopefully.  
  
"You've got something on the side of your nose..."  
  
He quickly covered his nose and Tania couldn't stifle a giggle as she walked out and noticed that his face was a rather bright shade of pink.  
  
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ 


	5. Chapter 5

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~  
  
After a splendid boat ride for the first years, they were now facing the defining moment which would determine what house they would be placed in. The first years gathered in front of everyone else in the Great Hall, which was the largest room even Tania had ever seen. It had four long tables-one for each house-and the house colors hanging above each one.  
  
Then, she noticed it: a rather bedraggled looking wizard's hat sat upon a stool. She stared at it, mixed emotions stirring wildly up inside of her. Suddenly, the hat twitched and a rip near the brim opened much like a mouth. The hat began to sing:  
  
"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.  
You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.  
You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;  
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
If you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;  
Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folk use any means  
To achieve their ends.  
So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"  
  
Tania was quite sure that she was not the only student there anxious to have the hat be over with its song so they could be sorted into their proper houses. She was so excited to see the proud look on her sister's face when sorted into Ravenclaw.  
  
Tania was one of the first ones to be sorted, since the list they were going by was in alphabetical order. Finally, they got to her.  
  
"Bloom, Tania!" Called a tall, stern-looking woman with a tight black bun. This was the Professor McGonagall Hermione had spoken of.  
  
Tania took a large breath, walked up to the stool, and put the Sorting Hat on her head. It drooped over her eyes.  
  
She was breathing deeply as it sat on her head. Suddenly, she heard a small voice inside her ear. "Tania Bloom, Tania Bloom... Your sister was almost as difficult to place as you are. She did quite well for herself, as you can see... So, where to put you?"  
  
Tania thought quietly to herself. Why does this Hat have to be so difficult? I'm meant to be in Ravenclaw, that's all there is to it!  
  
"Oh yes, you'd do well in Ravenclaw, that's for sure." replied the hat. "But... Still, there's something about you that makes me think you'd do much better in-"  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted out into the silence of the hall.  
Tania sat and gaped. "No!" she said aloud as the Gryffindor table burst into applause. Her objection went unnoticed by Professor McGonagall as the hat was taken off her head, smiling at her and clapping.  
  
"Welcome to Gryffindor, Miss Bloom." she said kindly.  
  
"No, Professor, you don't understand! I can't be in Gryffindor, the hat made a mistake!" Tania was positively frantic.  
  
"Go on and join your house, please, we have other students to sort."  
  
Tania had no choice but to go down to her table. She looked at her sister on the way. She seemed just as shocked as Tania.  
  
"What happened?" Tania mouthed to her.  
  
Allyson merely shook her head sadly.  
  
Tania sat down next to a fourth year girl who was shaking her hand, saying, "Welcome to Gryffindor, Tania!"  
  
Tania nodded and tried to smile despite her urge to cry. She put her head down in her arms and kept thinking, I'm going to wake up any second and I'll still be at home, ready to go to Hogwarts. This isn't happening, it's just a dream... Yet she didn't wake. She just sat there in the Great Hall, desperately trying not to cry amidst the tumultuous roars of applause around her.  
  
When the sorting was over, she didn't feel like eating anything. She looked over at Allyson. She didn't seem to want anything either. So, they both just sat, pondering what their parents would say.  
  
Would they sympathize and accept that Tania hadn't been sorted into Ravenclaw? Or would they be ashamed of their daughter and pretend she didn't exist? These thoughts haunted the two of them until the end of the feast when they had to separate into their own common rooms.  
  
It was only as she walked up the large, moving staircase that she really became aware of what was happening. She was in Gryffindor... She looked around her and decided to make the best of the situation.  
  
Hermione was there, as was Neville. So was Ron and Harry. This made her feel slightly better, but not enough to drive the lingering thought from her mind that she had not been sorted into Ravenclaw.  
  
Soon enough, they came to a large portrait of a rather aristocratic and, not to be rude, Fat Lady.  
  
"Password?" she asked the Prefect (who happened to be Ron's older brother, Percy) at the head of the mass of First Years.  
  
"Caput Draconis." he answered promptly and rather pompously at that.  
  
At these words, the portrait swung to the side, revealing an opening that led to what was none other than the Gryffindor common room. As they entered, there were many "ooh"s and "ah"s issuing from the First Years. It was "ooh-worthy" indeed. There was a roaring fire in the fireplace, which was surrounded by quite a few large, squashy armchairs, draped with gold and scarlet blankets, the Gryffindor house colors. Tania quite preferred the Ravenclaw colors of bronze and blue...  
  
Although the common room may have seemed appealing and warm to the other new Gryffindors, Tania wanted rest and only rest. She climbed the staircase to the right along with a couple other girls Tania did not yet know. She found a room with five four-poster beds, with velvet curtains of deep red. She collapsed in her bed without even changing and fell asleep immediately.  
  
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ 


	6. Chapter 6

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~  
  
She woke up what only seemed to be a few moments later. She blinked until her vision was clear through the darkness and looked around to see that the other four beds were occupied as well. One with Hermione, the other three with some girls she didn't know.  
  
Tania sat up in her bed and looked at her watch. It was around 2:00 in the morning. She knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep now that she had awoken. Then, the thought hit her again. She had been sorted into Gryffindor. For one fleeting moment, she had automatically supposed that she was in the Ravenclaw dormitory.  
  
She decided to go down in the common room. Nobody would be there and she could ponder everything that she wanted with nothing to disturb or distract her.  
  
She walked quietly down the spiral staircase that led to the common room and walked over to one of the squashy armchairs to sit down. Despite the fire, Tania was cold, so she wrapped one of the blankets around her tightly.  
  
She leaned up against the chair and looked into the fire. Maybe there was something she could do with herself in this house. No, it was not her dream to be in Gryffindor, but it wasn't a bad house at all. At least she hadn't been sorted into Hufflepuff or (shudder) Slytherin. That was definitely looking on the bright side.  
  
Still, there was a lingering thought inside of her, saying that she would have done so much better in Ravenclaw if the stupid hat had only given her a chance. Suddenly, she couldn't fight the urge anymore, and she began to cry silently.  
  
"I thought I heard someone down here..." Tania turned sharply to see Ron standing behind her chair, looking down at her, a little perplexed.  
  
"Why are you up?" asked Tania, wiping her tears on her sleeve as Ron took a seat in the chair next to her.  
  
"Even though I should be asking you the same thing, you seem a bit distressed, so I'll humor you." He smiled. "I couldn't sleep. I don't know why, really. But anyway..." He looked at her as though prompting her to say something.  
  
"Well, we have something in common then." said Tania bitterly. She had come down here to get away from people so she could think, and one of them happened to follow her down. How wonderful...  
  
"Aren't you going to tell me why you're up and crying?"  
  
"I couldn't sleep." Well, it was partially true, Tania thought to herself.  
  
"You're crying because you can't sleep?" Ron laughed. "Nice try, Tania, but even I'm not that stupid."  
  
She couldn't help but to smile a little. "Okay, fine. I'm crying because I didn't get sorted into Ravenclaw."  
  
"That's all?" Ron asked. He saw the look on Tania's face and corrected himself, "I mean... No worries, mate, I can fix that one." He looked shocked that these words had come out of his mouth, almost positive that he couldn't solve her problem.  
  
She smiled a little. "Oh, really? I'm listening." She was actually feeling better already.  
  
"Er... Yes, actually." He smiled confidently. "We're not as different as you think, Tania."  
  
"We're not?" she asked truthfully.  
  
"No, we're not." He shook his head knowingly and continued. "You see, my entire, pure-blood, wizarding family has been in Gryffindor for as long as any of us know. Your entire family has been in Ravenclaw in the same way. Now, I get my wish of being in Gryffindor, right?"  
  
Tania nodded, prompting him to continue.  
  
"Well, you happen to get sorted into a house different from the one you would have chosen. This would be considered misfortune in most peoples' eyes. But you can always look on the bright side."  
  
"What bright side?" asked Tania gloomily.  
  
"Well, let's just put it this way. In Gryffindor, I have to live up to my brothers' abilities and my parents' expectations, and there's absolutely nothing different about me. I have to admit that there's a small part of me that really wants to be in Ravenclaw, just so I can prove that I'm different from all the rest of my brothers."  
  
"How does this apply to me?"  
  
"There's always a good side and a bad side to things. Sometimes the good overpowers the bad, like in my case. And sometimes it's the other way around, like in yours. But I think that if you try really hard to find it, Tania... You'll see a small part of yourself that really wants to be in Gryffindor..." He smiled and then yawned. "Well, I'm tired, I think I'll go back to bed."  
  
He got up and walked up the spiral staircase to the left. Before disappearing completely, however, he turned and awkwardly asked, "Oh, and, Tania?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Would you mind not mentioning this to anyone?"  
  
Tania smiled. "No problem."  
  
"Thanks. Well, good night."  
  
"'Night-hey, Ron?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
She smiled a little. "Thanks."  
  
"Anytime, mate." He gave her a bit of a twisted grin, probably out of shock- he didn't really expect her to thank him. "Well, sleep tight-I mean..." His ears turned pink. "I mean, good night... Again." He laughed nervously as his face glowed red.  
  
"Good night, Ron." Tania smiled.  
  
He waved stupidly at her, then turned quickly, tripping on a step, then recovering his composure, laughing and saying, "I'm okay." He smiled back at her, then continued to walk upstairs, muttering to himself, "Stupid, stupid, stupid..."  
  
After Ron went upstairs, Tania felt that he had really helped her. Gryffindor really wasn't such a bad house after all. She could do extraordinary things there.  
  
With this last thought, she walked up the spiral staircase to her right and went back to bed, sleeping peacefully until morning.  
  
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ 


	7. Chapter 7

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~  
  
"Tania, get up, you're going to miss breakfast." Hermione shook her hurriedly.  
  
Tania managed to pry her eyes open in time enough to get dressed and make her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast.  
  
"'Morning, Hermione..." she yawned as Serge brought her a copy of The Daily Prophet, the wizarding newspaper. "Thanks for waking me in time for breakfast, I'm famished."  
  
"No problem-hey, you mind if I look at your newspaper?"  
  
"Sure, go ahead."  
  
Hermione took the paper from her and looked at it as Tania bit into a piece of toast. Hermione threw the paper to the side towards Tania and remarked, "Nothing interesting happening these days..."  
  
Tania rooted through it and found that she was right.  
  
"So..." said Hermione cautiously. "Are you still upset?"  
  
"A little." shrugged Tania, biting into an apple. "But I mean, I can't do anything about it anyway, so I figure I should just-"  
  
What Tania should just do Hermione never found out, for at that moment, a large bullfrog leapt onto her shoulder.  
  
Not so much out of fright, but out of shock, Tania screamed and shoved the frog off her shoulder. "WHO DID THIS!!!" she screamed around the table.  
  
Fred and George appeared behind her, grinning insanely.  
  
"You!" Tania yelled at them.  
  
"Us?" Fred asked truthfully. "I only wish we had thought to do that. Congrats to whoever the mastermind was."  
  
"No, I really did do that one, Fred." George said, laughing. "Sorry I didn't let you in on it, mate."  
  
Fred looked totally offended. "You didn't let me in on it?" He pretended to start crying. "And I thought you were my twin!" He laughed.  
  
"No, seriously, Tania," continued George, "don't be angry with me, Allyson told me to do it."  
  
"What!?" Tania was shocked.  
  
Almost as soon as she said this, Allyson shoved Fred and George to the side and came over, picking the frog up and sitting next to Tania. She hunched herself over as though she was hiding.  
  
Tania stared at her. "What are you doing?" she was getting a little perturbed now.  
  
"I'm sorry I did that, Tania, I needed to get over here to talk to you and, without a big commotion, I doubt Oliver would have left me alone long enough."  
  
Fred and George burst out laughing. George pinched Allyson's cheek jokingly. "Aww, is poor ickle Allyson being chased around by nasty Owiver Wood?"  
  
"Shove off, you git." Allyson said, slapping George's hand angrily.  
  
The twins laughed even harder and made their way over to Ron and Harry to tease them about Lord knows what.  
  
Allyson glared at both of them for a moment, then turned back to Tania. "I like them, but they're just too... Uh!" Allyson finished lamely. "So anyway..." She smiled. "You seem a little happier this morning."  
  
Tania shrugged. "Yeah, a bit."  
  
"Because, you know, Gryffindor isn't a bad house at all. In fact, it's arguably better than Ravenclaw."  
  
"I know..." sighed Tania. "I'm just not looking forward to telling Mum and Dad."  
  
Allyson looked at her sadly. "Do you want me to write them a letter for you?"  
  
Tania shook her head. "Thanks, but I think I need to do it."  
  
Allyson smiled a little. "Well, little sis', I just want to say that I'm proud of you. I'm being a little selfish in saying that I would like you to be in Ravenclaw with me, but I really do think that the Sorting Hat made the right choice, regardless of whether you believe it did or not."  
  
Tania smiled. "Thanks for the support."  
  
"Anytime, mate." She patted Tania on the shoulder.  
  
Suddenly, Oliver appeared out of nowhere. "Oh, there you are, Allyson!"  
  
Allyson jumped in her seat from shock and grimaced when he said her name. She turned around, forcing a smile in his direction.  
  
"I wanted to ask you when Ravenclaw has Quidditch practice-"  
  
"Oliver, there are more important things than Quidditch."  
  
Oliver looked terrified at the thought that anything might be more important than Quidditch. "WHAT! I hope you realize the seriousness of what you just said-"  
  
Allyson interrupted him by physically shoving him out of the way and turned to Tania.  
  
"Why are you still going out with him?" Tania laughed.  
  
"I don't even know..." Allyson lowered her voice. "He's such a sweetheart, I don't think I could stand to break up with him... I think I may have to, though."  
  
"Why don't you like him?"  
  
Allyson sighed and waved her hands around, looking for words to explain what was wrong with him. "Eh... He's too..." She sighed. "He's too clingy."  
  
"Clingy?"  
  
"You can see how he is around me! I mean, he's obsessive, it's creepy!"  
  
"Well, at least he's got Quidditch to distract him." Tania smiled.  
  
"Well, there's another thing. If he's so obsessed with me, you'd think he'd really care about me, right?"  
  
"He doesn't?"  
  
"He does... He just cares about Quidditch more."  
  
Tania giggled. "Yeah, you need to dump him."  
  
Allyson laughed. "Well, we've got to be in class in about twenty minutes, so I'll leave you be. Good luck on your first day."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Allyson walked off. Tania really wanted her to stay, but she knew her sister didn't have a choice. She turned back to her schedule and looked at the day that awaited her.  
  
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ 


	8. Chapter 8

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~  
  
After about a week or so, Tania decided to grit her teeth and write her parents the letter that she'd been dreading.  
  
Dear Mum and Dad, I know you've probably been expecting to hear from either Allyson or myself concerning the sorting process here at Hogwarts. You'll both have to forgive me for waiting this long to write to you-if you'll continue reading, I think you'll be able to guess why. In fact, the truth is that I've been avoiding writing you this letter for quite some time. To get straight to the point, parents, I have to just come out and say what I've been getting around to. Based on the long line of Ravenclaws in our family, it was obvious that I was going to be sorted there as well. Apparently, Mum and Dad, the word 'obvious' holds exceptions. No one is sorrier than I to say that I have been sorted into Gryffindor. I know it is not what any of us wanted, but I am convinced that if I put effort forth, I can do great things in this house. Besides, I think it's about time Gryffindor gets a taste of what we Blooms have to offer.  
  
Love, Tania  
  
Tania heaved a sigh as she folded up the letter and gave it to Serge, who was sitting on a perch in the owlery. As she watched him fly off, she smiled weakly. Her parents would understand; she knew they would. They loved her regardless of what house she was in. After all, it's not exactly as though Tania could have chosen where the Sorting Hat had placed her.  
  
She smiled to herself and walked back to the Gryffindor common room.  
  
The rest of the month passed with nothing eventful in the least. Although Tania's parents didn't give her a response through a letter, it let her relax a little, knowing that she didn't have to deal with their criticism. Classes progressed in the usual fashion and students complained about them in the same fashion as well.  
  
The easiest class for Tania was, by far, Transfiguration. The only person that seemed to be up to Tania's transfiguring ability was Hermione.  
  
One day, Tania saw the strangest thing in between Transfiguration and Potions. She was walking out of the classroom when a red fox ran by her. She screamed instinctively and wheeled around to Professor McGonagall, who was looking at the fox pointedly.  
  
"P-P-Professor! There's a-a-fox! IN YOUR CLASSROOM!!!"  
  
She nodded and smiled a little at the fox who was sitting silently at her feet, looking at Tania, almost seeming to smirk at her. "I'm well aware of that, Miss Bloom. Please go to your next class."  
  
Tania stared at the fox for a moment, then at Professor McGonagall. She laughed in a weird, squeaky sort of way and said, "Right then... Have a good day, Professor."  
  
"I assure you I will. Now go along to your next class." She nodded and smiled a bit.  
  
"Oh... Okay." Tania turned and ran into the door. "Ouch... I'm okay, really..."  
  
With that, she made her way to Potions. Potions and the Defense Against the Dark Arts were altogether quite uneventful, although Tania did develop a strong disliking for the Potions teacher, Professor Snape, along with a strong suspicion for the less-than-knowledgeable Professor Quirrel, teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts.  
  
Lunch came and Tania sat with Hermione, once again. However, Hermione seemed to be quite bitter towards Tania ever since she found out how wonderful the young, pure-blooded witch was at Transfiguration.  
  
"Well, you know, there's always Charms..." said Hermione gloomily to herself.  
  
"Hermione, what is the matter with you?" asked Tania.  
  
"Oh, nothing..." said Hermione, glaring at Tania a bit. "Except, of course, for the undeniable fact that you're tremendously wonderful in Transfiguration and I'm clearly less than mediocre..."  
  
"You're being ridiculous, Hermione, you are so not less than mediocre at anything and you know it!"  
  
"But you're still better than me, Tania!" she yelled. "Of course... I guess you're supposed to be, huh?" She glared at Tania.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean you, and your pure-blood family, are perfect at everything, you have all these glorious witches and wizards at your house to show you how to do all this magic, and all I've got is two muggles."  
  
"All you've got is two muggles?" asked Tania. "How do you think they would feel if they could hear you saying that?"  
  
"How do you think your parents will feel when they read that letter you wrote them?"  
  
"Hey, now don't get into that, it's totally beside the point and you know it!" Tania stuck a finger in Hermione's face.  
  
Hermione stood up. "No, it isn't! Your family has always been in Ravenclaw and that's the only reason you're better than me! So if you want to be in Ravenclaw so bad, then go back to it! I should be the best Gryffindor student and that's that!"  
  
And, with that, she huffed off to another table to sit by herself, leaving Tania to gape back at her, positively stunned.  
  
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ 


	9. Chapter 9

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~  
  
That afternoon, at Quidditch practice, Allyson, being one of Ravenclaw's chasers, was flying around and scoring goals. She was doing quite well until she saw that Oliver was standing below her in the stands, smiling sweetly up at her, his hand over his eyes to block the sun.  
  
She flew down into the stands. This was too much; he was following her everywhere and it simply had to stop.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked him angrily.  
  
"I'm here to see you, of course." He took her hand and kissed her gently on the cheek. "Is that a Nimbus 2000?" He said in complete awe, pointing at her broom.  
  
She sighed. "Oliver, this isn't working for me..."  
  
He frowned a little. "Well, if you want help outside of your practices, I'm sure we can find some time to work on that weird curve in your throw."  
  
Allyson paused. "There's a weird curve in my throw?" He opened his mouth to speak, but she interrupted him. "No, we don't need to get into that now." She shoved herself back onto the topic. "That's not what I meant."  
  
"Then what did you mean?" he asked, smiling at her, totally unaware of what was coming.  
  
"Oliver... I really like you, but..." She began to wince a little. This was going to be difficult. "What I mean to say is..."  
  
The gentle smile upon his lips was slowly lessening and the mirthful shimmer in his pretty eyes was rapidly fading to a subtle glow of utterly surreal melancholy. "Allyson, no... You can't..."  
  
"But Oliver, I have to." There were tears welling slowly in her eyes, knowing that she wanted to be with him, but that she couldn't live with the way he was acting. "I'm just not seeing any benefit in this for either of us."  
  
"I thought you said you liked me." He said, sighing sadly, as he swallowed nervously.  
  
"I do, Oliver, I like you so much, and I don't want to ruin our friendship, but... I can't have the relationship with you that you want with me. You're invading my life and, I have to admit, it bothers me. I want someone who'll give me my space and who can respect me enough to know what I need as a person and not just as an object of affection."  
  
"But, Allyson, I can do that!" His mouth was oddly firm, as though trying to keep his voice strong, for it had begun to shake with the effort of not crying.  
  
She tried to look down at her feet; she couldn't stand to see him cry. "You've already proved to me that you can't."  
  
"Please don't do this, I promise I can change, I'll give you more space, I'll do anything, just please give me one more chance." He took her hand.  
  
She pulled it away. "Oliver, this is already really difficult for me, and I'm not changing my decision."  
  
"How can you feel that way?" He asked truthfully.  
  
She put her hand on his cheek and looked into his eyes. She sighed and could think of nothing better to say than. "I'm sorry, Oliver..." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, then hopped back on her broom, stifling a small sob as tears streamed voicelessly down her face.  
  
She turned back to look at him, but she immediately wished she hadn't. He was sitting, bent over, on the ground, his face in his hands, crying silently.  
  
Allyson couldn't take it. She shoved off of the ground and flew to the other side of the stadium as fast as she could.  
  
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ 


	10. Chapter 10

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~  
  
And so it was that both of the Bloom sisters were sitting in their common rooms, solemnly waiting for anything good to happen. They had both realized something that left them devastated-they had each lost someone that they needed. Of course, the worst thing about it was that, had they known what precious gems they'd possessed, they would have been so much more careful with them. Perhaps it was a series of events caused by the ones they lost that led up to the sisters' forced decisions, but they nevertheless felt that a portion of it was their fault.  
  
Allyson and Tania both needed consolation, and who better to discuss their problems with than each other?  
  
Tania rose from her chair and turned to go in pursuit of the only people who could help her see her sister-Fred and George Weasley.  
  
As she passed the next chair, she looked down to see Oliver staring sullenly into the fire with no expression on his face except for the lingering sensation of utmost misery in his deep, brown eyes.  
  
Tania wondered what was wrong, but had not the nerve to ask. Instead, she made her way over to Harry and Ron, who were currently engrossed in a game of wizard chess.  
  
"Check." Harry grinned triumphantly, convinced he had won, as he looked on at Ron's freckled face, which merely smirked in return.  
  
"Harry, you moron..." Ron chuckled as his pawn moved forth. "Check mate." He raised his eyebrows at Harry as the white king on the opposite side of him threw his crown to the harmless black pawn.  
  
Harry gaped at the chessboard momentarily. "But it's only a pawn!"  
  
Ron smiled. "I know... Pretty depressing, isn't it?"  
  
Harry slouched in his seat. "If only you knew... Hey, Tania..."  
  
Ron wheeled around to see Tania standing behind him. He smiled. "Oh, hello, Tania."  
  
She forced a smile. "Hey, Ron. Do you know where your brothers are?"  
  
He slouched down to Harry's level. "Which ones? The clowns or the politician?"  
  
Tania giggled. "The clowns."  
  
"Well, George is moping in a corner at the moment... Don't know where Fred is."  
Tania eyed him curiously. "Moping? George doesn't seem like one to mope. Why is he moping?"  
  
Ron waved his hand in open dismissal. "Fred's gone off somewhere without him." Tania opened her mouth to question him yet again, but he interrupted her. "Don't ask me where, I'm not my brother's keeper." He paused. "No pun intended, by the way."  
  
Tania smiled. "A lot of help you've been."  
  
"Well, don't thank me or anything!" He laughed.  
  
"Don't worry, I wasn't exactly planning on it." She walked off to look for George.  
  
Ron wasn't joking when he'd said that George was moping in a corner, because it was quite literally a corner that he was moping in. He was sitting at a table, slouching and looking miserable.  
  
"Hey, George." She sat down across the table from him. "Any idea of where Fred might be?"  
  
He lifted his eyes from the floor to meet her gaze. "Yeah. Why do you care?"  
  
She shrugged as she leaned back into her chair. "No reason. Just wondering..." She looked at him for a moment. "Any idea of how I could see Allyson?"  
  
He continued to stare at her, his expression not faltering once. "Yeah." He paused. "Why do you care?"  
  
Tania smiled a little in return. "Why do you think?"  
  
He smiled and sat up straight in his chair, leaning across the table. "I'm thinking it's because you want to talk to her."  
  
"Very good, George, I'm proud of you! You're starting to learn about that thing we normal people like to call common sense!" She laughed a little.  
  
He leaned back into his chair and smirked again. "Well, if you don't want me to help you..."  
  
"I have a feeling I could find Fred and pry some information out of him whether you decide to help me or not."  
  
George shook his head. "Nah. You couldn't find Fred any easier than you could find Allyson. But the truth is I'm going to help you anyway."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I believe we can help each other." He grinned and leaned on the table again.  
  
A smile crept across Tania's lips and she followed suit in leaning on the table before her. "I need details. I want to know how I'm helping you before I commit to anything."  
  
He shook his head. "No, see, I can't tell you that-I've made a promise and, though I may be a sneaky, immature prankster, I never break my promises. All I can tell you is that, in this situation, there's a good chance your profit may be greater than mine." He looked down at her hands for a moment, then once again he looked back into her eyes, smirking a little.  
  
Tania could tell he wasn't lying.  
  
"Do we have a deal, then?" asked George, holding out his hand.  
  
She smiled. "I would be stupid not to take this offer." She shook his hand.  
  
Almost immediately, he leapt up from the table and yelled across the room, "Oi! Ron!"  
  
Ron's head snapped to face George while Harry meekly attempted to urge one of his knights to make an illegal move to put Ron's king in check. "What do you want?"  
  
"Is Jack in the dormitory now?"  
  
Ron thought for a moment. "Yeah, he should be, he doesn't usually go over to Sally's unless she needs him for something important."  
  
"Thanks, mate."  
  
Ron grinned back at him and nodded. "Sure thing." He turned back to the game, just as his bishop was being forced to attack the rebel knight in order to protect its king. "Harry, you git!"  
  
Tania snickered a little as she followed George up a staircase. Before entering the door at the top, however, she stopped. "George, I can't go in here, this is the boys' dormitory."  
  
George gaped at her. "So you're willing to cheat your way into the Ravenclaw common room, but you won't go into the boys' dormitory?"  
  
Tania shrugged. "I guess it's not that so much. I feel at home in the Ravenclaw common room, but the boys' dormitory...?" She grimaced a little.  
  
George looked at her for a second and shook his head as he rolled his eyes. Without warning, he then grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder. "You goody-goodies. Honestly!" He mumbled, genuinely irritated. "Can't stand to take any risks."  
  
Tania was kicking and screaming as he walked into the dormitory, swinging the door shut behind him and locking it. He put her down hastily on the ground.  
  
She just stood there, gaping at him. He merely grinned in response as he walked over to the other side of the room towards a poster of the Chudley Cannons. Tania followed him angrily and walked in front of him.  
  
She decided to take advantage of the time when he was carefully studying the poster. With lightning speed, she pulled her hand back and aimed for his face.  
  
Without even looking at her, he held his hand up and blocked her swipe. "Now where could he be?" He mumbled, completely indifferent to what had just happened. He let her hand go as she marveled at him.  
  
"How did you do that?" she asked. "I barely had time to think about it myself."  
  
He looked at her and smiled. "Practice. After getting slapped a few times, it sort of sharpens your reflexes. Just ask Fred if you don't believe me. He's practically got a sixth sense about it from being slapped and punched so much." He continued to look at the people flying around on the poster.  
  
Tania scanned the room nervously. "George, please hurry up... I don't think I'm supposed to be up here."  
  
"Of course you're not, stupid. This is the boys' dormitory."  
  
Suddenly, a young man on a broomstick flew into view on the poster. "Sorry, Fred, what did you want?"  
  
George winced when the man mistook him for his twin. "George... My name is George, Jack! Honestly, Fred and I are not the same people, you know..." He looked at the man.  
  
"Right... George... I must remember that." Jack smiled at Tania. "And who is this?"  
  
"This is Tania, Allyson's sister. Now, is Sally over in the dormitory currently?"  
  
"Not now." said Jack sadly. "I'm afraid she's in the hospital wing, sick with pneumonia. There's been a bad round of it over in Ravenclaw."  
  
"Ah... Shame about that... You wouldn't have happened across the password, I wonder?"  
  
"Well, last time I checked, it was hippogriff talons, but it may have changed since then. Would you have me go see if anyone else is in the dormitory?"  
  
"No, we'll work with the hippogriff thing. Thanks, Jack."  
  
"No problem. Nice meeting you, Tania." With that, he flew off to continue playing the endless game of quidditch.  
  
"Well, then?" Asked Tania. "Should we try it?"  
  
"Yeah, I suppose." Replied George uncertainly. "We can only hope it works."  
  
They made their way over to the Ravenclaw portrait hole where there hung a prestigious-looking philosopher.  
  
"Password?" he asked, looking at them through his monocle.  
  
George cleared his throat nervously. "Er, yes... Hippogriff talons!"  
  
The philosopher merely sat, unmoved. "I'm sorry, that was last week's password."  
  
"Well..." George grinned convincingly. "Out of the kindness of your heart, sir... Will you let us in? We've forgotten the password, you see, and-"  
  
"You cannot enter without a password!" said the man sternly.  
  
George sighed. "Any ideas, Tania?" He whispered to her.  
  
She shrugged. "We could try another password..."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Uh..." she thought. "Mandrake leaves!"  
  
"I'm sorry, you're not even close." The philosopher chuckled.  
  
"Mandrake leaves?" George asked her.  
  
She glared at him. "Let's see you do better."  
  
"All right, then." He cleared his throat. "Dungbombs!"  
  
The philosopher began to laugh.  
  
"Oh, that was good..." Tania said sarcastically as she laughed with the old man.  
  
"Give me a few more tries, all right?" He looked back up at the stern man. "Butterbeer!" The philosopher sat, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Sugar quills!" offered Tania. Still, the portrait didn't budge.  
  
George tried again. "Phoenix tears!"  
  
"Unicorn blood!"  
  
"Spider legs!"  
  
"Pumpkin juice!"  
  
"Dragon scales!"  
  
"Snitch feathers!"  
  
"MOOOOOOOVE!!!" Screamed George, throwing his fists wildly at the painting. He backed up, pulling at his hair, still yelling angrily. He stood there for a moment, staring up at the painting, breathing heavily, his face almost as red as his hair, which was horribly messy. "Why won't you move?" He screamed at the philosopher.  
  
The man merely looked down at him. "I can't do anything about the rules of this school, or about the fact that you've forgotten the password. And yelling certainly isn't going to get you in here."  
  
"Why can't you just move!"  
  
"Because it's against the rules and standards of this school to let you in without a password."  
  
George gaped up at him, then slid down against the wall next to the portrait.  
  
Tania kicked at the ground angrily as she muttered, "Bloody hell..."  
  
With that, the portrait swung to the side and revealed the opening to the Ravenclaw common room.  
  
George stood up and stared at the portrait hole. "That's the password?"  
  
Tania shrugged and clambered into the portrait hole, followed closely by George.  
  
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ 


	11. Chapter 11

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~  
  
While Tania had been searching frantically for the Weasley twins, Allyson had been sitting quietly in the Ravenclaw common room.  
  
She was feeling guilty at the moment-perhaps too guilty to care much about talking to Tania. Indeed she was feeling too miserable to even rise from her seat. Her cheeks were wet from crying and her mind weary from the mixed emotions racing through it at the moment.  
  
She was happy to be rid of the responsibility of a relationship with Oliver. On the other hand, the happiness was certainly not enough to drown the guilt and agony she felt lurking in the pit of her stomach.  
  
The loneliness consumed her. It was not only the thought of losing Oliver that drove her to this sadness. It was another factor that contributed to it all.  
  
When she had been going out with Oliver, his life had revolved around two things: her and Quidditch. The sport was the only thing that had managed to keep his attention once he'd started going out with Allyson, but even it took on a change in his life. During the Gryffindor games against Ravenclaw, Oliver would often let Ravenclaw score against Gryffindor-if Allyson was the one scoring.  
  
Of course, the Ravenclaw team saw this as a major opportunity to take advantage of Oliver's weakness, and they would give the Quaffle to Allyson as often as possible. So, when Allyson broke up with Oliver, it need not be said that the team was quite upset with Allyson.  
  
So Allyson found herself with no sister to talk to, no Quidditch team to rely on and, worst of all, no Oliver.  
  
"Stupid password." She heard a voice say. "Took me a bloody half hour to figure it out."  
  
She looked over at the portrait hole to see Fred Weasley clamber into it. Many of the Ravenclaws stared at him as he avoided their eyes.  
  
Fred was probably one of the last people Allyson wanted to see at the moment, perhaps with the exception of Oliver.  
  
"Hey, Allyson." He said cautiously as he walked over and sat next to her.  
  
She merely stared into the fire, hoping that if she didn't respond, he would leave.  
  
"So, er. I heard you broke up with Oliver."  
  
She looked over at him, but didn't turn her head. She wanted to talk about it less than anything at the moment. She just wanted him to leave.  
  
"Yeah." He shifted awkwardly in his seat. "So, um. Who comes up with the passwords for these portrait holes, honestly, because this is ridiculous-"  
  
"Fred, why are you here?" Allyson finally turned to him. "I know you're not here to talk about the bloody password, so just spit it out. I need to be alone."  
  
He looked at her for a moment, then forced a smiled as he blushed a little and scratched his ear in an attempt to look casual. "Er." He looked back up at her. "I just thought. You know, things aren't going too great with Oliver, and." He smiled a little. "It doesn't look like they're going too great with you either. And I. Um."  
  
"Don't tell me." Allyson sighed and slumped into her seat. "You thought I'd like to talk about it."  
  
He smiled. "Yeah."  
  
"Well, think again, Fred. I don't want to talk about it. It's too early in this break-up for me to want to do anything right now." Her eyes began to well up again as she continued. "Least of all talk about what's causing me such pain." She sniffed a little as she fought back tears and put a hand over her mouth. She avoided looking at Fred.  
  
He moved as though to grab her hand, but thought the better of it. Instead he just sat there, looking concerned. Allyson didn't notice.  
  
She forced a smile. "I'm sorry. See, this is why I don't like talking. Talking is dangerous when I'm in this state." She laughed a little as she wiped her eyes.  
  
"No, it's okay." Fred smiled. "I don't mind, really."  
  
She looked at him. "I know you don't, Fred. I do mind, though." She sat up in her seat. "I know you mean well, I really do. But you're not someone I can talk to."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You're a great friend, Fred." She smiled. "You're funny and smart, and you're cute as hell. But you're not the type of person that I'd be comfortable talking to in a situation like this." She shrugged. "Or in any other situation, for that matter."  
  
"Oh." He looked down at his feet. He looked back up at her, then faked a smile. "Okay, then. Just thought I could help."  
  
"Yeah. Thanks anyway." She smiled. "I really didn't mean anything by it, you know."  
  
"Oh, I know!" He laughed. "I know."  
  
"Right. Well, I think I need some time to myself, so..." She sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow, if I'm lucky. Good night, Fred."  
  
"Good night, Allyson." He swallowed his dignity as she rose from her seat. "Hey, Allyson?"  
  
She turned to him. "Yeah?"  
  
"I, uh. I just want you to know. Oliver's really upset. He won't talk, he won't sleep, he'll hardly eat."  
  
"Fred, this isn't cheering me up, okay?" She sat back down next to him. Her eyes welled with tears once more.  
  
"I know it isn't." He whispered. "I just wanted you to know." His eyes took in her soft skin, tainted with the silver tears rushing down her cheeks.  
  
She looked at him, her piercing blue eyes glistening with tears. "You wanted me to know what?"  
  
"Just to know that he's handling it really well." He smiled a little.  
  
She laughed grimly. "What are you talking about?"  
  
He merely gazed into her eyes. There was a bittersweet sort of sadness he felt pulsating through his veins at that moment; a hunger that can only be explained by acute loneliness that one feels when their world is ready to reassemble after falling apart for the tenth time that year. Not only were these feelings searing through his heart, but he could feel them flooding his mind, poisoning it with notions that he was certain could never even be considered, much less attained.  
  
Finally, he spoke. "Allyson. If I could have just one day to feel the way Oliver felt when he was with you. I know that losing you would hurt me in such a way that I wouldn't want to live anymore. And yet." He smiled a little. "I wouldn't be able to bring myself to die for fear that I would never again have that feeling. That I would never again cherish those memories of the time spent with you. It's really big of Oliver to even stay sane knowing what he lost." He looked at her, fear burning in his eyes.  
  
Allyson was seeing Fred with a mixture of feelings swimming through her. Part of her really wanted to accept what he was telling her without a second thought, and the other part of her tried desperately to convince her otherwise.  
  
He smiled nervously. "Allyson, please say something."  
  
She looked at him for the longest time, trying to think of something to say. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She shook her head, sighing, and stood up. "Good night, Fred." She smiled weakly as she began to walk up to the girls' dormitory.  
  
Fred said nothing. He merely watched her walk up the steps wearily. She's coming back. He tried to convince himself. She's not just going to walk away from me. She can't possibly be that oblivious. But she didn't come back. He watched her disappear up the stairs without looking back.  
  
He sighed sadly as he put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Right now, more than anything, he wanted to die. There was nothing that could make him feel better about this night. He'd embarrassed himself in front of the girl that he was in love with and she didn't even say anything to make him feel better about it. He was so sure this had been the night that she would see him as something more than a friend, and yet she'd left.  
  
He clenched his fists angrily. "Why do I have to be in love with her.?" He whispered to himself, seething with anger. He threw a pillow at the wall and yelled, "Why can't I just hate her!"  
  
People were staring at him as though he had five heads, but he didn't notice. He groaned angrily, sadness seeping through his heart to every part of his body as he leaned back in his seat and drifted into an uneasy slumber.  
  
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ 


	12. Chapter 12

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~  
  
Tania and Fred walked into the Ravenclaw common room to find Fred asleep in a chair by the fire.  
  
George walked over to him as Tania wondered why he was here. "Oi... Fred, wake up..." He punched him in the arm.  
  
"What the-Oh, hey George." He stood up.  
  
"Fred, where's Allyson?"  
  
He yawned. "Why do you care?"  
  
"Because Tania's here to talk to her." He raised an eyebrow at him.  
  
Fred looked at Tania. "Hi, Tania. I don't know where she is." He lied.  
  
"You don't know?" Tania responded angrily.  
  
George sat down in a chair. Fred sat down next to him.  
  
"So..." Began George. "Did you get anything out of her?"  
  
"What!" yelled Tania.  
  
Fred and George took turns glaring at her as Fred continued. "Nah." He lied. "All I got was that she couldn't talk to me about anything. Oh, and she thinks I'm cute." He grinned.  
  
Tania smiled at him a little. "Oh, I see."  
  
"What?" asked the two twins simultaneously.  
  
"You have a crush on my sister, don't you, Fred?"  
  
Fred sighed. "Okay, so yes. But if you tell her, I swear I will make your life a living hell!"  
  
"Why would I tell her?" asked Tania truthfully. "I'm not like that, I would never tell her. Now where is she?"  
  
Fred looked at her for a moment. "She's up in the girls' dormitory."  
  
"Thank you!" Tania grinned as she raced over to the stairwell that led to the girls' dormitory.  
  
On her way up, she heard George say, "Hang on, now. If she thinks you're cute, doesn't that mean she thinks I'm cute, too?"  
  
Tania laughed as she made her way up the staircase. Once at the door, she knocked softly.  
  
"What?" came her reply. It was Allyson's voice.  
  
"It's me-can I come in?"  
  
"Tania!" With that, the door opened and her sister engulfed her in a tight hug. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you!"  
  
Tania tried to pry her sister's arms off of her, gasping for breath. "I think you've given me a pretty good idea! Ouch! Allyson, I can't breath!"  
  
"Oh, right! Sorry." Allyson let go of her. "Get in here before anyone sees you!"  
  
Tania stepped hastily into the dormitory. It was clear that her sister lived here-surrounding her bed were posters of the Ireland Quidditch team zooming around and (something all the other girls found totally bizarre) still pictures of the Christian, American-muggle music artist, Matt Thiessen.  
  
"I didn't know you had decorated this elaborately..." said Tania, looking around at the posters that were plastered upon the walls.  
  
"Yeah, well there was nothing better to do." Allyson answered in response to Tania's wandering eyes, flopping on her massive four-poster bed behind the curtains of deep blue.  
  
Tania sat down beside her. "So how are things?"  
  
"Not great. I broke up with Oliver, but I don't really feel like getting into it. Fred's sort of driven me away from talking for the moment."  
  
"Understood." offered Tania. "You know, Fred's just trying to help."  
  
"Yeah, but he needs to back off. He's a nice guy, but there's something about him that makes him almost seem a bit." She trailed off. "Never mind. So how about you? What's up with your life?"  
  
"Well, Hermione's deserted me because I'm better at her in transfiguration."  
  
"Really!" Allyson suppressed a smile. "You're doing well in transfiguration? Tell me, how far are you?"  
  
"Allyson." Tania growled angrily. "You know that's not the point I'm making here." She began to smile a little. "Actually, I just transfigured a hare into a rabbit."  
  
Allyson paused. "How can you tell?"  
  
"Well, I don't know, really. But Professor McGonagall said it was really advanced or something."  
  
"Well, for your level, I suppose it is!" Allyson smiled. "It looks like you're doing well in Gryffindor so far."  
  
"Maybe. But it seems as though everything I'm doing is academic; stuff that would be more appreciated in Ravenclaw."  
  
"You may be right, little sis', but I don't think so. The Sorting Hat's never screwed up."  
  
"Okay, but what's keeping it from screwing up now?"  
  
"Nothing. I'm just saying it's unlikely." Allyson avoided Tania's eyes. "Tania, I think I'd ought to tell you something."  
  
Tania looked at her sister curiously for a moment. "What?"  
  
"I've got a really big secret that only I and one other person know about."  
  
"Well, you know you can trust me."  
  
"I know. I'm just afraid it might shock you a little bit." She shifted uncomfortably.  
  
"Try me." smiled Tania.  
  
Allyson sighed. "Okay, here it goes. Tania-I'm an animagus."  
  
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ 


	13. Chapter 13

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~  
  
"Check mate."  
  
"Not again!" Harry slammed his fist on the table.  
  
"Harry, this is boring, I don't want to play wizard chess anymore." Ron sighed, looking very tired. "Tania, what do you suggest we do?" He looked to Tania who sat beside Harry. She had been helping him navigate his pieces to avoid another loss. It didn't work.  
  
She picked up her head from where it rested on the table. "I don't know."  
  
Ron rolled his eyes. "A lot of help you are."  
  
She glared at him. "You know, we could go study or do homework. Oh wait, that would be the smart thing to do-why would you ever do a thing like that?"  
  
Harry started to chuckle, but then stopped as he noticed the gleam in their eyes, both so bored it had driven them to madness. "Uh. You know, studying sounds good, I think I'll go do that now."  
  
Tania leaned back in her chair. "No, I'll leave, it's okay. See you guys tomorrow."  
  
She went upstairs to the dormitory, changed, and then lied down in her bed.  
  
Two other girls Tania had come to know were in the dormitory as well, chatting away, as usual.  
  
"Oh, hello, Tania." One of them smiled over at her.  
  
Tania let out an exasperated sigh. "Hi, Lavender." Lavender Brown was a nice girl, but Tania could only take her in very small doses.  
  
"What's wrong?" asked the other girl-her name was Parvati Patil. Her twin sister, Padma, was in Ravenclaw.  
  
"Everything." Tania responded, making no effort to clue them in on what had been going on.  
  
"Everything?" Parvati asked. They both got up from Lavender's bed where they had been sitting and talking. They made their way over to Parvati's which was right next to Tania's.  
  
"How can everything be wrong?" questioned Lavender stupidly.  
  
Tania tried to control her temper. She sighed. "I meant that, right now, I'm just kind of not. Liking my life. I mean, I know things will turn out okay in the end, but that doesn't help me now."  
  
Lavender sighed. "Well, what's going wrong now?" A look of realization spread across her face. "Oh, is it Hermione?"  
  
Parvati gasped. "It's Hermione, isn't it? I knew you two had something wrong. When did you guys start fighting?"  
  
"Just a few days ago."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because she was talking about how I was better at her in transfiguration, even though that's the only class I'm better than her in, and not by much, let me tell you."  
  
"Well, you know," said Lavender, "Hermione does have quite a big ego. She's so particular about everything."  
  
Parvati nodded. "You're telling me! If you put so much as one toe out of line when you're around her, she'll jump all over you-either that, or tell a professor."  
  
Tania sighed. In a way, she liked hearing that she was right, but in another, it just made her feel worse. "Well," she tried to get off the subject of Hermione, "things aren't going too great with my sister either."  
"How's that?" They both asked anxiously. It was always good for Tania to have it in with the third year students, and they wanted to know all they could.  
  
"She just broke up with her boyfriend-the same day I had that fight with Hermione."  
  
"Who's her boyfriend?" Lavender asked, unconcerned.  
  
"Oliver Wood."  
  
They both gasped. "How could she!" Lavender shrieked.  
  
"Well, you'd kind of have to know him to understand, but-"  
  
"But nothing!" said Parvati. "He's so sweet and cute and-ooh, that just makes me so mad!" She pounded her fist into a pillow on the bed.  
  
"Hey, wait a second! You've never even talked to the guy!" Tania objected angrily. "You don't know anything about the way he was acting around my sister-"  
  
"What's there to know?" said Lavender. "Your sister obviously has some serious problems if she dumps a guy like him."  
  
"No, listen!" This wasn't helping at all-it was just making things worse. "He cared more about Quidditch than he did about her! She had to break up with him."  
  
"I don't care!" said Parvati. "She's lucky he cared about her at all with the crowd she hangs out with!"  
  
"What does that mean?" Tania growled angrily.  
  
"I mean, those Weasley twins and Lee Jordan. They always have to be playing a joke on someone or-or disrespecting the professors. And they've never even gotten expelled! I can't see where they would be good friends at all-they're just stupid pranksters."  
  
Tania gaped at her. "If you could see how sensitive and caring those pranksters really are, you would only hope to have friends as good as them." She rolled over onto her back, seething with anger, wanting more than anything to hex them.  
  
Parvati and Lavender gaped at her and scrambled back to Lavender's bed, whispering frantically, no doubt about how awful Tania was.  
  
It was one thing to insult her when she was there-but to talk about people they didn't even know like that just made Tania want to scream.  
  
Without even thinking about it, Tania grabbed her wand on her bedside table and pointed it at herself.  
  
"Silencio!" she jabbed at her own mouth, took a deep breath, and then screamed as loud as she could. Nothing came out. She couldn't keep from grinning as she mouthed the word, "Articulo!"  
  
She sighed happily. That had made her feel so much better.  
  
"How did you do that?" She heard Lavender say.  
  
"Oh, it's just a little something I picked up from my sister." Tania said smugly.  
  
"Your sister? But silencing charms are fifth year material!" Parvati squeaked.  
  
"Yeah. I know." Tania nodded. "I'm sure you can get Oliver Wood to show you, though. Oh wait! No you can't, because you don't know him!" She looked at their shocked faces. "Well," she smiled, "good night girls. Have fun talking about me behind my back." She waved sarcastically, then rolled over away from them, smiling to herself as she fell asleep.  
  
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ 


	14. Chapter 14

Author's note:  
  
Aaaaaah, first of all for those of you who are actually reviewing, THANK YOU for your support, criticism, etc. Heeheehee, FutbolMenina: I have no problems at all with you reviewing like every single time I post something new. I'm enjoying reading them, really!!! About all the stuff you said. I DO plan on making the Allyson/animagus thing a little more prominent and in the importance of this story, and I think I'll also try to throw Ron into more of his lovable character traits that we're all familiar with. Also, I will definitely make Fred and George more mischievous. Ah, I can feel a plot brewing as I speak. O_o. Type, whatever, give me a break, I only got a few hours of sleep last night! Oh, and one more thing. I realized as I was trying to edit this fan fic a little the other day that I sort of just forgot about Tania writing a letter to her parents. So I've edited Chapter 8 to sort of include that a little bit. Once again, thanks for everyone's support and all, please keep reading and reviewing, and SORRY THIS WAS SO LONG!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~  
  
Tania woke up the next morning to see the sky black with rain clouds and the windows shuddering under the pouring rain.  
  
"Oh, this is just too lovely!" Tania hopped out of her bed and changed into her school clothes. "Not even the bloody weather is good these days."  
  
She trudged down to the common room and looked at the clock. She had about an hour to make her way to the Great Hall to eat breakfast and socialize.  
  
She walked down to the Great Hall and found Harry and Ron eating silently while Ron read the Daily Prophet.  
  
"So." Tania began, sitting down across from Harry. "How is everyone?"  
  
Ron looked at her and smiled. "Oh, we're-" Just then, George ran up and put him in a headlock. "WHAT THE HELL! George, get OFF!"  
  
George proceeded to not let go while he laughed unceasingly. "You know, I don't think I will."  
  
Ron's face contorted from shock to utter fury. "George, I swear, if you don't get off, I'll-"  
  
George let go of him, snickering. Ron's cheeks were a bright shade of pink as he looked from Harry to Tania. They were snickering behind a copy of the Daily Prophet. Of course, Ron could still hear their laughter.  
  
He glared menacingly, but then looked back up at George. "Where's Fred?"  
  
George sighed and rolled his eyes. "Ravenclaw table."  
  
"Doing what?"  
  
"Consoling Allyson."  
  
"About what?"  
  
George laughed. "Oliver."  
  
"Don't laugh at that!" Tania piped up. "He loved her!"  
  
"Then why did she break up with him?" George challenged.  
  
Tania gaped at him. "Well, obviously, it's no use explaining it to you. You're a guy. You'll never understand."  
  
"Hey!" All three of them said at once, offended. "Yes we do!"  
  
Tania let out a wry laugh. "Yeah, then why is Oliver so depressed?"  
  
At this, they all shut up.  
  
"Yeah, well." George began. "Maybe we don't understand. But Fred is certainly trying to."  
  
Tania looked over at Allyson and Fred at the Ravenclaw table. Allyson was trying to ignore him while Fred just sat and stared at her with his sad brown eyes.  
  
Tania got up and walked over to the Ravenclaw table. Without even thinking about what she was doing, she grabbed Fred's ear and literally yanked him up from the table, dragging him across the Great Hall to the Gryffindor table.  
  
"OW!" Fred didn't bother to keep his voice down as he screamed, "TANIA, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" He shook her off and stared at her, utterly confused.  
  
Tania leaned in, anger gleaming in her eyes and whispered, "Fred, you need to stay away from my sister. She's going through a lot right now, and all she wants is to be left alone. She doesn't want to talk to you-she doesn't even want to be around you."  
  
Fred looked at her for a moment. "Why not? What's wrong with me?"  
  
Tania sighed. "It's not you, Fred, it's just people in general."  
  
"Well, I can't help it." He said, running his fingers through his fiery red hair. "I don't like seeing her so depressed." He looked over at the Ravenclaw table anxiously.  
  
Tania couldn't resist smiling as she physically turned his head back to face her. She put her hands on his shoulders and said, "Neither do I, Fred. But this is just something she needs to work out on her own."  
  
Fred rolled his eyes and laughed. "You know, it almost depresses me that you're giving me advice."  
  
Tania took her hand off his shoulders quickly, offended. "Why?"  
  
He looked at her. "Because you're a Bloom, Tania." He patted her on the head gently and began walking over to join his twin.  
  
Tania gaped for a moment, then grabbed his arm, forcing him to spin around and face her again. He looked down at her as she scolded him, "You know, Fred, you're one to talk about giving advice."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Fred scoffed.  
  
Tania stared at him in disbelief. "Here you are trying to force feelings out of my sister, and you can't even accept that I'm trying to help you."  
  
Fred avoided her eyes. "Tania, I'm sorry, I'm just going through this whole unrequited love business, and it's not exactly the most." He paused. "Not the most pleasant situation in the world."  
  
Tania laughed a little. "Unrequited love?"  
  
"Don't make fun-" he started.  
  
"Fred, how dense can you be? It's perfectly obvious that Allyson's mad about you." She smiled.  
  
"No she's not, you oaf!" Fred didn't respond to this quite the way she had hoped. He continued, "Do you see the way she acts around me? She can hardly stand to talk to me, much less is she mad about me!" He made an odd, frustrated growl as though Tania had finally driven him over the edge.  
  
Tania looked at him for a moment. "Fred, you obviously don't read people very well at all. She's dealing with some very conflicting emotions right now. Se likes you, but she's still not completely over Oliver."  
  
Fred rolled his eyes and feigned a laugh. "Okay, Tania." She could tell he just wanted to end the conversation. "Okay." He began to walk back to the Gryffindor table.  
  
Tania couldn't believe him. Did he honestly think he knew her sister better than she did? She glared at him as he left while she walked back over to Harry and Ron.  
  
On her way over, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see a first year like herself-a Slytherin. She'd seen him around, but had never talked to him or thought anything of him. He had very blonde hair that was slicked back to his head and icy gray eyes that were glazed with malice. Although he had a very cute face, it was obscured most of the time by a smirk.  
  
"Hello, Miss Bloom." He smiled-a genuine smile. He held out his hand.  
  
So far, Tania had no reason to be rude to this boy, so she decided to play along, even if he was a Slytherin. She took his hand and shook it, trying to smile. "Er. Hello. Do I know you?"  
  
"No." He smiled again as he let go of her hand. "But I plan on changing that. I'm Draco Malfoy."  
  
She immediately didn't like this boy. There was something about him that reeked of arrogance. For the moment, though, she decided to be polite. "Uh-huh. Nice to meet you, Draco. May I ask how you knew my name?"  
  
He grinned. "Oh, I've been asking around. In fact, I've already met your sister."  
  
"Have you, now?" Tania pretended to be interested. "Well, I'm sort of curious as to why you wanted to meet me so badly."  
  
He looked at her and smirked a bit. Tania almost winced, but resisted the urge. He continued as he laughed a little, "I must admit I haven't been able to take my eyes off you for the last month." He did a horrible job of feigning diffidence when he spoke again. "I have to say that I've been having a rather difficult time of mustering up the courage."  
  
Tania nodded, wondering why this odd boy had actually approached her. "Ah. Well, I'm afraid I must be going-I believe we have potions together today, maybe I'll see you then." She feigned a smile.  
  
"Don't stay a stranger, Tania!" He called after her with a laugh. "Then again, why would you want to?" He walked back over to the Slytherin table as Tania literally cringed.  
  
"Uh, guys?" She asked awkwardly as she approached Harry and Ron.  
  
"Yeah?" They said together.  
  
"Do either of you know a bloke named Draco Malfoy?"  
  
They both froze and then looked back at her. "Yes." Harry said cautiously. Ron nodded slowly.  
  
"Uh. What do you think of him?" She asked, not trying to push the matter.  
  
"Well," began Ron, "to be perfectly frank, he's a nasty little slime ball who deserves to be hung by his ankles in the dungeons for about-oh, how long would you say, Harry?"  
  
"Hmm, I think I'd say for the rest of his life." Harry said casually.  
  
"Yes, I think that's about right." Ron smiled pleasantly.  
  
"Ah." this didn't make Tania feel any better.  
  
"Why do you ask?" inquired Ron.  
  
"Oh, no reason." Tania sat down next to him. "He just came up to me and introduced himself is all-"  
  
"He what?" They both said. Harry dropped his toast on the floor and Ron slammed his glass of orange juice on the table, causing it to spill all over the place.  
  
"He came up to me and introduced himself." Tania repeated, mopping up a puddle of orange juice with some napkins.  
  
"Why do you think he did that?" asked Harry, picking up his toast and giving it to his owl, Hedwig.  
  
Tania shrugged, genuinely unsure of how to word this. "I think he thought I was pretty or something."  
  
Ron and Harry exchanged worried looks.  
  
Tania rolled her eyes. "Would you two calm down? You're acting like he's proposed to me or something!"  
  
"Well." Ron looked annoyed. "What do you think of him?" His eyes widened. "You weren't thinking of going out with him, were you?"  
  
"RON!" Harry and Tania both shouted, completely appalled.  
  
He jumped and turned a slight shade of pink. "Sorry." He muttered.  
  
"I would never go out with him!" Tania hissed. "I don't even enjoy talking to him."  
  
"Why?" Asked Harry. "Was he rude to you?"  
  
"No." Tania's lip curled at the thought of him. "In fact, he was rather polite. I can't really say why I don't like him. There's just something about him that makes me want to-"  
  
"Let me guess." said Ron. "It makes you want to hex him multiple times without mercy."  
  
"Yes, that's it!" Tania smiled. "How did you guess?"  
  
"Oh, Harry and I have talked about it before." He snickered. "But you just wait-if you think he's bad when he's polite, you're in for a really unpleasant surprise when you see how bad he is when he's rude."  
  
Tania had never liked potions less.  
  
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ 


End file.
